Sen. John Kennedy brought some sci-fi theatrics to Capitol Hill to issue a bizarre warning that Americans risk turning into the monster from Alien if they keep eating shrimp imported from Indonesia.
The MAGA Republican showed off a photo of the film’s scary “chestburster” scene during a Senate hearing where he railed against Walmart for selling seafood that he claimed was laced with dangerous levels of radioactivity.
It comes amid product recalls by Walmart of some seafood products after warnings from the Food and Drug administration that some shrimp may be contaminated with cesium-137 after being exposed to it in shipping containers, according to the BBC.
Kennedy blamed lax border inspections for what he called an “unconscionable” situation, insisting Americans were being served irradiated shellfish with a side of bureaucratic negligence.,
Consumers in 13 states have been told to discard items meeting the description, labeled under Walmart’s Great Value brand.
To hammer home concerns about the imports, Louisiana’s Kennedy used the 1979 imagery of the sci-fi antagonist—a Xenomorph—as a warning. “Shrimp from other countries, which don’t abide by the same rules that we abide by in America, which, if you eat it, it may turn you into the Alien, and at the minimum will cause you to grow an extra ear.”
The Daily Beast has contacted a representative for Sen. Kennedy—who has no formal higher medical education—as to what exactly he meant by this.
The MAGA acolyte, 73, then laid waste to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, saying it is supposed to check the standards of imported food, but most shipments evade inspections. “Yes, they’re inspecting some of it—about one percent, on a good day, two percent—the United Kingdom inspects 50 percent of the foreign seafood coming into its nation. Even China does a better job.”
The Daily Beast has also contacted both Walmart and NOAA for comment.
The states with recalls are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia.
The FDA has said, “At this time, no product that has tested positive or alerted for Cesium-137 has entered the U.S. marketplace.”
“There’s no excuse for it,” added Kennedy, who caused panic when it appeared that he might have had a stroke live on air earlier this summer.
Radioactive shrimp has become the latest flash point in the Make America Healthy Again agenda, dovetailing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s passion for raw milk.
In an apparent bid to curry favor with the White House after breaking step over the Epstein files, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene groveled to MAHA by condoning a U.S. farm which posted on X, “So you’re telling us that Walmart is allowed to import and sell RADIOACTIVE shrimp from Indonesia, but American farmers could be thrown in jail for selling raw milk at their local farmer’s market…”
Bending the knee, Greene responded, “Correct, because bad food makes you sick and dependent on Big Pharma and good natural food like raw milk makes you well and healthy and you won’t need Big Pharma.”
